Strangerville
by Kammie Celeek
Summary: In Strangerville, things have become more bizarre than ever. Between the cover-up by the military and scientists and the presence of government agents, Erwin Pries knows that something bad has happened. Carlotta D'Angelo wants to keep her daughter safe in their new home. And Dylan Sigworth just hopes to cure his wife Jess of the Infection.
1. Chapter 1

**So, first chapter of a story that I never thought I'd write, but I got Sims 4 Strangerville with the recent birthday sale and thought I'd flesh out the story of my own Sims that I made expressly for Strangerville and who may be the most normal-ass Sims I've ever made, ironically enough.**

** For reference Carlotta has an accent like that of Carisi from Law & Order: SVU. Her backstory will be more fleshed out as we go along, but our main characters here are Carlotta, Dylan, and Erwin. Each has a role to play in the story that relates to them as a character and each of them (with the possible exception of Erwin) has a personal stake in solving the mystery.**

** This will be the only author's note I do in favor of keeping the flow of the story, hence why it's up here instead of down below. Let's get this party started, alright?**

* * *

"And you _promise_ we won't have to move again?"

"I promise, sweetheart."

Lucy slumped down in the backseat as Carlotta winced sympathetically at her through the rearview mirror. It had been a long drive to get from their old home in Del Sol Valley to their new one in Strangerville and Lucy hadn't been happy about the move in the first place. But unfortunately, they'd been evicted from their old rental in DSV and had to find a new place to live, somewhere cheaper where Carlotta could work to support them both with her barely-high-school-level education. And Strangerville had been that place, offering a house (cheap!) with two adjoining bedrooms and one bathroom, a decent-size kitchen, and plenty of space for both Carlotta and her daughter.

Now their new home was in sight. It was… nice enough. Not gorgeous like Willow Creek, up-and-coming like Newcrest, or star-studded like Del Sol Valley. It would do for them, though.

"Whoa! What's that?!"

Lucy was suddenly very excited about something. Carlotta glanced out the window to see what could only be described as a _massive freaking crater_ on the edge of town. Her chocolate brown eyes widened and her red lipstick-lined mouth dropped open.

"Ya gotta be kidding me!" she yelled. "That was _not_ in anything I was told about this place!"

"Duh. It's cool!" Lucy chirped. Carlotta sighed and turned her attention back to the road, running her fingers through the short, loose dark brown waves that made up her hair.

"Changed your mind, have ya?"

"Nope. I still want to go back to DSV."

"And ya know why we can't, right?"

"Right… because Mr. Sullivan is a big meanie and took our house away. And Grandma and Grandpa D'Angelo think you're a—"

"Don't repeat what I say until you're old enough to legally drink, okay?"

"Okay, Mom."

About ten minutes later, Carlotta pulled into their new driveway and got out of the car. Lucy hopped onto the pavement, grabbing her suitcase out of the trunk as soon as Carlotta popped it open. Together, they made their way into their new house.

It wasn't _crazy-nice_ like some of the mansions they'd seen on that big cliff, but it wasn't a dump, either. To Carlotta's right was the bedrooms—one with a full-size bed (for her) and the other with a single (for Lucy). Further in was the living room with a brown couch and white coffee table, a rabbit-ears TV sitting on a stand against the wall. There was a small wooden table sitting in the middle of the floor with two chairs, presumably their dining-room. And the kitchen wasn't much, maybe six collective feet of counter-space, a sink, a stove, and a fridge.

"Well, home sweet home," she said dryly to Lucy, who appeared unsurprised at their less-than-extravagant surroundings.

"It's better than being homeless."

"Hey, be nice. I was homeless for a little while once and yeah, this is better than being homeless but ya don't have to call it out, Lucille."

"Don't call me Lucille."

"I won't, if you be nice. Now, go unpack and we'll order a pizza for dinner before we go to bed."

"I want pepperoni!"

"That's my girl!"

Carlotta unpacked her suitcase quickly, putting her clothes in her new dresser and making sure she looked reasonably neat and not 'dressed to kill', as her father used to say.

_Pop… wonder how he's doing?_

As usual, her heart ached as she thought of her family. How were _any_ of them doing? The last time she'd seen any of them had been when she was still living with her older brother Rocco in Willow Creek on the day of the Big Fight. That had been the day that she'd made a choice for the good of herself, her brother, and her daughter to cut contact. It had broken Carlotta's heart to do it, but it was either that or put up with constant remarks about how she'd had a baby at the age of sixteen and how she'd ruined her life and on and on and on.

"Mom, pizza?"

She looked to see Lucy staring at her through the bright pink frames her daughter had picked out the last time they went to the optometrist. Carlotta smiled, pulling her cell out of her pocket and looking up the number for a nearby pizza place that delivered. Their first night in town was not the night to get lost looking for dinner.

After the pizza arrived and half-eaten, Lucy changed into her pajamas and climbed into her new bed, Carlotta entering the room a minute later to kiss her good night.

"See you in the morning, Luce," she whispered.

"Night, Mom…" Lucy mumbled, snuggling down under the covers.

Carlotta headed to her own room and got ready to go to sleep for the night. Within minutes, she was out like a light.

Moving was always exhausting.

* * *

Dylan slid bacon and scrambled eggs onto plates as Christie came into the kitchen, still looking half-asleep.

"Morning, sleepyhead," he greeted her cheerfully.

"Morning," she yawned. He set out a glass of orange juice for her, which she took and drank gratefully. "Where's Mom?"

"She left for the base already."

"Oh." She sipped her orange juice some more and tilted her head. "A new family moved in across the street a couple days ago."

"Did they, now?" He'd seen the new car and movement in the house but hadn't thought much of it.

"Yeah. A mom and a daughter my age. The girl's name is Lucy and she's super nice!"

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. A new family. He prayed, for their sake, that the mother wasn't military like Jess. She'd been acting strange for the past few days and it made him worry about what might have happened to her up there at the base.

"Go ahead and get ready for school, okay?"

"Okay." She scarfed down the rest of her bacon and ran to get ready while Dylan finished his own meal and washed the dishes.

As he and Christie stepped out of the house, he noticed a woman leaving the one across the street with a little girl about Christie's age. She wore some kind of black blouse and dark jeans with a pair of black work boots, which were far more sensible than the golden earrings that dangled from her lobes. She leaned down and kissed the little girl on the cheek, waving goodbye as the bus pulled up around the corner and the little girl raced to catch it with Christie. Dylan's eyes met the woman's and she gave him a friendly wave before heading around the back of her house.

_Normal lady. Hm._

He headed down the street, wondering what the woman was doing behind the house. Then he noticed Harris Young, a teenager who never seemed to be in school, jogging up with a few rotten eggs near the front of the house.

"Harris!" he snapped, futilely. Harris never listened to a word anybody said.

It appeared, however, that the woman did.

She came back around the front and spotted Harris in a second, her face twisting with disgust.

"Hey! Get the hell away from my house!" she snapped in an accent Dylan was pretty sure he'd only heard in movies.

He fully expected Harris to ignore her and throw the eggs anyway, but Harris froze.

"S-sorry, ma'am…"

"Damn right! Throw those eggs in the trash and get your ass to school!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Harris did as she said, running off towards the high school at a breakneck pace. Dylan raised an eyebrow, once again making eye contact with the new neighbor. She dusted off her hands and crossed the yard, stopping in front of him and smiling.

"Hiya," she greeted him, her accent still shining through. "I'm your new neighbor."

"I guessed that much." Dylan stuck out a hand. "I'm Dylan Sigworth. And you are?"

"Carlotta D'Angelo." She accepted the handshake, her grip strong enough to nearly crush Dylan's hand. He hissed. "Sorry. Old habit."

"What kind of habit…?"

"Let's just say I'm a very Italian girl from a very Italian family and leave it at that. I know how to get things done. Pleasure to meetcha, Dylan."

"What are you up to back there—burying a body?" he joked.

"Somethin' like that. I'm a gardener."

"Oh…"

"Your girl, Christie, came over the other day to say hi. She and Lucy really seem to get along."

"That's good. Christie needs more friends."

"Lucy needs 'em, too. Well, don't let me keep ya. I'll see ya around."

Carlotta headed back to her garden and Dylan continued on towards the store.

* * *

Erwin Pries was not a 'people' person, at least not in the traditional sense.

When it came to people, he paid attention to them for any signs of something strange. Unusual. _Conspiracy-worthy_. And to that end, he ran the curio shop by the trailer park where he lived, both ensuring his livelihood and allowing him to freely observe the comings and goings of people who passed by his stall on a daily basis. His stall's proximity to Strangerville Plaza also ensured that he had plenty of access to the 'common people' of his town, too.

On that note, he also had a tendency to head up to the lab in the crater in an effort to find evidence something was going on. So far he hadn't had much luck and today was no different as he headed back to his shop for the day. On his way there, he stopped by the library and checked out half a dozen or so books on the history of Strangerville before exiting the building again. His books were thick tomes that contained all of the knowledge that he thought he'd need in order to 'solve' Strangerville, so carrying the whole stack blocked his vision somewhat.

In his zeal to investigate he'd forgotten the universe liked to laugh at him.

He tripped over his own two feet, landing flat on his face and sending his glasses flying as the books he'd just checked out landed around him. Laughter echoed from somewhere nearby as he felt around for his glasses. They were the most important thing because along with being paranoid, clumsy, and geeky, he was also blind as a bat without his glasses.

"You alright?" asked a heavily-accented feminine voice. "Here."

Somebody put his glasses in his hand and he put them on, looking up to see quite possibly the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen in his life. Cropped wavy dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, lips painted bright red against tanned skin… and she was looking straight at him with a concerned expression.

Suddenly Erwin couldn't speak, at least not coherently.

"I… uh… n-nice…" She squinted, placing her hands on her hips and jutting them to one side.

"You hit your head or somethin'?"

"No!" He inwardly cringed (why was he so awkward?) at how loud his voice got. "I… um, thanks."

"Let me help you," she insisted, holding out a hand and pulling him to his feet.

It was then he noticed she was short. Like, at least six inches shorter than him and he was five-nine. She was maybe five-two at the most. Somehow, though, he knew she could (and maybe would) kick his ass if he crossed her.

"Thanks. Again."

"Hey. Just a neighbor being neighborly." She tilted her head towards the house next to the trailer park. "I just moved in a couple days ago."

"Oh, _you're _the new owner."

"Yeah." She smiled, a real smile that made him feel warm and his stomach churn the tiniest bit. "Name's Carlotta. And you?"

"E-Erwin. Erwin Pries. I run the curio stand over on the other side of the park."

"Well, Mr. Pries, I'll see you around. I gotta get home and make dinner."

He watched Carlotta head back towards her house, smiling more than a little dopily as he picked up his books. Looking at the cover of one that detailed the bizarre flora of Strangerville, he sighed and the smile disappeared from his face. More than likely Carlotta would get infected. Her property had several of the plants he suspected of causing strange behavior in town and he'd noticed that the garden in the back was being well-tended. Surely she'd come in contact with them and become like everyone else. And even if she didn't she'd leave once she realized something was up. There was no way a woman like Carlotta—the strong, stubborn, 'I-only-believe-what-I-can-see-with-my-own-eyes' type—would _ever_ stay in Strangerville or believe his theory with the lab.

It was nice to dream, though.

Erwin headed towards home, being much more careful with where he put his feet.


	2. Chapter 2

Shadows fell across Strangerville as the afternoon dragged onwards.

Carlotta glanced up from helping Lucy with a school project at the sound of someone approaching. Knitting her eyebrows together in confusion, she spotted three women walking up to her porch with broad, too-happy smiles. Their eyes were wide, too, like they were in a permanent state of shock. Two of them were fair-skinned blondes, dressed in a style that Carlotta had come to associate with the Strangerville residents. The third had black hair tied in a bun, dressed in camo pants and an olive-green t-shirt with a set of dog-tags around her neck.

"Uh, can I… help you?" she asked. Lucy set down her things and ran into the house.

"Welcome to Strangerville!" one of the blondes said, her head snapping to one side as she moved her limbs in a sudden and stiff way.

"Thanks, I guess…?" None of the women seemed to hear her.

"Welcome to Strangerville!" the black-haired woman stated, moving like the first blonde.

_Okay, what the hell?!_

Suddenly, the black-haired woman blinked and her twisted grin disappeared as she stopped moving erratically. The blondes did the same and Carlotta felt a sense of dread pricking at the back of her neck.

"Oh, hello," the woman in the military sighed, smiling in a genuine way. "I'm Jess. You've already met my daughter and my husband—Christie and Dylan."

"Yeah, I did."

"I'm Leslie and this is Meredith," the blonde who'd first greeted Carlotta stated.

"I brought you some fruitcake!" Meredith chirped happily, holding out the plate. "Can we come in?"

Part of Carlotta wanted to scream 'no' and slam the door in their faces, but she couldn't—not in good conscience. Besides, her mother had always insisted they be neighborly, even to those who were clearly mentally ill like these three ladies were and for some reason, that was the only good thing Bianca D'Angelo had taught her youngest child. So Carlotta stepped aside and let them into the house.

"So, Carlotta, what do you do?" Leslie asked, sitting down on the couch. Lucy glanced at her mother.

"I work as a gardener. Not much else to say about it, but I've always had a green thumb and this place could use some green."

"How lovely!" Meredith gasped, clapping her hands. "I hired a gardener myself not too long ago, but he left. I miss having plants around the house."

"Plenty of weird-looking ones around town. Never seen 'em before, either. You know what they are?"

"Oh, you sound like Erwin Pries. Don't worry about it, dear. I've lived here longer than you girls have been alive and it's always been like this!"

"Meredith is Ted Roswell's wife," Leslie butted in. "He's the mayor of Strangerville."

"Good to know."

"Since you're new in town, you probably don't know this but there's a lab in the crater," Jess spoke up, making a face at the taste of the fruitcake Meredith had brought. "Stay away from it. Civilians aren't allowed inside."

"Noted. Thanks, Jess."

"No problem. God knows Erwin Pries never listens, not matter how many times I tell him the same thing."

"What's up with him, anyway?"

"He's one of those crackpot conspiracy theorists who think something's wrong around here," chuckled Meredith. "The lead crackpot, actually. He's been arrested at the lab for trespassing more times than I can count."

"I think he's a weird pervert," Leslie added. "He sells all kinds of weird stuff at that curio stand of his, like little electronic bugs so you can listen in on conversations and things like that. And just the other day he asked me if I was from Sixam. I told him I didn't know what it was and he just looked at me like _I_ was the crazy one. Honestly!"

Carlotta pressed her lips together. Erwin had struck her as more of a clumsy geek than a crackpot pervert. But then again, she'd only met him just the once and these women had known him much longer than she had.

"I'd stay away from him and all his lunatic conspiracy-theorist buddies," Leslie continued.

"I'll… make a note of that. Thanks."

All three visitors suddenly shot upright and became like they had when they'd come to the D'Angelo house—stiff and jerky with unnaturally wide grins and eyes. Carlotta opened the door and they headed outside, their farewells mixed with unsettling words that Carlotta couldn't quite make out. She felt more uneasy with their new home and she was beginning to realize just _why_ the house had been so cheap. The feeling was not lessened when she spotted Erwin across the street wearing a colander on his head that was covered in lights.

_Dammit… can't trust anybody, can I?_

His eye met hers and he gave a dorky smile and a little wave. Remembering what Leslie had said about the bugs, she narrowed her eyes and went back inside, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"Viable sample has turned inviable before proper testing could be done. New sample needs to be collected."

Erwin clicked off the tape recorder and sighed as he glared at the cutting he'd taken from one of the bizarre plants that grew all over town. He'd wanted to test it, but unfortunately his black thumb had killed it just like he seemed to kill every other plant he came into contact with. Out of frustration, he knocked the small pot into the garbage and grabbed his bag to go collect another.

Outside, it was a beautiful sunny day. People were out going about their business, including the government agents who had seemed to appear out of nowhere as of late. Over at the Sigworth house, he could see Christie playing on her monkey bars with another little girl he didn't recognize. The girl had long dark brown hair braided over her shoulder with messy bangs that hung in her eyes slightly. She wore bright pink glasses and a pink polka-dot shirt with a purple skirt, pink sneakers on her feet and swaying as she traveled from one end of the monkey bars to the other.

He stopped by Carlotta's house, where a near-perfect specimen of the odd plant was growing, and knelt by the thing. He didn't really know much about gardening (perhaps another reason he'd never had a viable sample last long enough to test) and he wasn't even sure this was actually a plant. But the plant wasn't really the reason he stopped by. No, he wanted to talk to Carlotta again, maybe make her more comfortable with him. She'd been avoiding him since the day the Strangerville Welcoming Committee stopped by her house and undoubtedly 'warned' her of his eccentricity.

Unfortunately, it appeared she wasn't home. Her car—a beat-up old blue pickup truck—was gone, signaling that she wouldn't be back for quite a while. He sighed and continued trying to get a viable sample.

"You spend a lot of time near here," a little voice said. He fell backward and looked up to see the little girl he didn't recognize standing over him.

"Uh… yeah. Sorry. I, um, like to try and run tests on these plants, but I have the _opposite_ of a green thumb, if you know what I mean." He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"I do. I'm not good at gardening either, but my mom is. It's her job."

_Wait…_

"I'm sorry, but who's your mother?"

"You know who she is. I see you staring at her a lot when she's outside. Her name's _Carlotta_?" The little girl fixed him with a stare that could _only_ belong to someone related to Carlotta D'Angelo and his throat tightened.

"Yeah. I do know who she is. I didn't know she had a daughter."

"I don't spend a lot of time at home. I prefer going to the park or hanging out with Christie." She held out her hand, staring up at him with the same dark brown eyes as Carlotta. "I'm Lucy D'Angelo."

"Erwin Pries." He shook her hand and she gasped.

"You're the crackpot guy!" He winced; no matter how many times he heard someone call him that, it never got any easier.

"I prefer eccentric. You, um… you heard about me, probably from Leslie and Meredith."

"Mm-hmm. You don't seem bad, though. A little weird is good."

"Exactly."

"I gotta go. Christie and I are gonna go play video games at her house. Bye, Mr. Pries!"

She ran off and he smiled a little. Well, at least one person didn't buy into the rumors, even if it was a kid. He headed back to his trailer, only to find that the sample wasn't in his bag. He must've dropped it when Lucy startled him back at the plant. Out of exasperation he groaned; he couldn't go back now. Lucy would think he was stalking the house. His solution was to wait for it to get later and just try to run the curio shop for now. Maybe things would get better…?

He was sitting alone at the counter for a long time. The three nights in a row he'd stayed up to investigate started to catch up with him a little and his eyes drooped. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a little nap while he waited for someone, anyone, to stop by. He leaned back in his chair and started to doze…

_SLAM!_

He shot upright, falling back slightly and trying to right himself as he straightened his glasses to get a look at the person who'd interrupted his nap. It was Carlotta, and she had one of the bizarre fruits in her hand and an angry look on her face. Well, maybe not _angry_, but more like she was on the road to kick the ass of someone who'd pissed her off to no end.

"C-Carlotta!"

"Listen, Pries, what the hell is up with this fruit?" She held it up. "I know you've got some and I want to know how you got it."

"It… it's just something I got last time I tried to sneak into the lab. There were a bunch in crates outside and I took them to run tests." He gave her a confused expression. "Wait, how did _you_ get one?"

"One of the purple plants. Thing popped open and spat this out."

"The pods?"

"It ain't a pod anymore."

"What?!"

She led him back to her house and his eyes widened even more when he saw the purple plant. He started sputtering in shock, as if trying to express how monumental this was.

"How did this happen?"

"I've been takin' care of it for the past few days."

"You're a _gardener_! Of course!" He grinned broadly. "Carlotta, help me get a cutting of this thing."

"I… don't think…"

"I've been trying to run tests on them for ages in a controlled setting, but I have a black thumb and can't keep them alive for more than a day at most. But with _you_ I can finally figure out what these things are!"

"Pries—"

"You're amazing, seriously _amazing_! Now, if only we could talk to the soldiers down at—"

"_Pries!"_ He stopped, noticing her expression. "I don't think the plants are going to help us know what's going on. And I sure as hell don't want to get mixed up with your whacko nonsense."

"No. No no, listen! This could be our key to getting more information out of the scientists and military folk." His voice had dropped to a lower register so the agents couldn't hear him. "I can't get them to talk to me. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not the most… socially savvy."

"Understatement."

"Right. But with you, we could get something out of them. You know people, right?"

"A little. At the very least I can read social cues."

"Great. So let's head down to the bar and ask around."

"Sure, whatever. I need a drink, anyway."

* * *

"Jess, we need to talk."

She turned around as Dylan stood there anxiously.

"What about?"

"You've… you've been acting weird for a while. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I've just been stressed up at the base."

"No, this isn't just stress, Jess. I've never seen you act like this before and you've been under more stress than this."

Jess bit her lip.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, either. And I don't know what you're talking about so just drop it."

"Jess."

"I said _drop it_."

"Fine. I'll drop it."

_For now…_

Jess headed out of the house, slamming the door behind her as she left. Dylan sighed and turned to see Christie and Lucy staring at him.

"You girls heard that, huh?"

"Kinda hard not to," replied Christie. "Is everything okay, Dad?"

"Everything's fine. Your mom just needed to blow off some steam. You know how she gets."

Christie raised an eyebrow.

"Lucy. You must've heard parents argue before."

"Not really. I've never met _my_ dad. Mom had me when she was sixteen."

"Oh…" A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

"But I've seen worse arguments." Christie smiled comfortingly at her friend.

"Well, if you need anything, you can always come over here."

"Thanks, Mr. Sigworth."

"Let's go watch a movie!" Christie insisted, grabbing Lucy's hand. The two girls vanished into Christie's room and Dylan was left alone.

_Poor kid…_

_ Whatever's messing with Jess, it's definitely up at the base. But what is it?_

Great. Now he was starting to think like Erwin Pries… but maybe Erwin knew something. He spent enough time researching Strangerville and the lab. He must've come across _something_.

Dylan would ask in the morning. For now, he needed to get some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"According to most of the soldiers, the Lab is the best place to find evidence."

"Good luck getting in there. I've been trying for months and I can't do it."

Carlotta and Erwin were currently inside his trailer, discussing Carlotta's findings from the night before. Her skill with talking to tough-guy and tough-girl types had turned out extremely useful and Erwin thought privately that if she told him she used to be in a gang or something that he wouldn't have any trouble believing it. It was just the type of energy she put out.

"Well, to be fair, you look like a crazy person."

"I'm eccentric!"

"Whatever. I got you your info."

"Now we need to go investigate."

"Uh, high-tech lab with tons of soldiers hanging around? I can do the soldiers, but how would we get into the lab itself to find the evidence we need?"

"Simple. We find a hacker."

"You can't do that?"

"Nope. Unfortunately, I'm good with electronics but not with programming. I made this hat, though!" He tapped the colander and she looked unamused. "Sorry. Not helping."

"Let's get looking, then."

"We could ask Dylan?"

"Sigworth?"

"Yeah! He's a computer geek!"

"You are not in the position to be calling _anyone_ a geek."

"No, I mean he's a programming genius! We ask him to come with us and we can get into the lab no problem!"

"I don't think he's up for that."

"He might be. We just have to ask!"

"Okay, listen, Pries. That guy has enough on his plate. His wife is whacked out of her goddamn mind half the time. He's got a daughter to look after. Who's gonna take care of Christie if he gets bumped off or disappeared?"

"Nothing's going to happen. I… can protect us."

"How? With the goddamn colander you have on your head?"

"When I started looking into the mysteries of Strangerville, I may or may not have… bought a gun?"

"Good choice. Now my question is do you know how to shoot it?"

"Not… exactly?" His voice went up high with nervousness and Carlotta rolled her eyes.

"Give it to me." He obeyed and she looked it over, seemingly making sure it was in working order before putting it back in its case and putting the case in her bag.

"You know how to shoot?"

"My dad taught me when I was a kid. He taught me and my brothers and sisters."

"Well, at least one of us knows what they're doing." She rolled her eyes. "Carlotta, please. Things are getting worse. If we're not careful, the entire town could be wiped off the map."

"Listen. Let me think it over. You're getting way too excited. All we know is that some weird crap's going on and the military is involved. That's actually normal around here from what you've told me."

"B-but the pods—"

"Pries. I need to get home. I'm going to think this over. Okay?"

"O-okay. You want me to walk you home?"

"I can take care of myself." She stood up and headed out of his trailer, her footsteps fading away as she disappeared around the corner.

Erwin sighed and slumped back in his chair. Carlotta was the first person to even _consider_ the idea that they needed to do something about this. She still seemed wary about him (not that he blamed her) but it was a start. She had the kind of attitude he felt like he needed in order to get this thing cracked wide open. All they needed was a computer whiz to help really crack it.

* * *

Dylan eyed Jess's laptop carefully. She'd gone up to the base for a training session with the new recruits, leaving him home alone with Christie again. She hadn't brought her laptop with her since it was physical training and she'd be helping to oversee it. This could be his chance to find something on what was going on with her. Not that he was sure what he would do with that information. Maybe he'd tell Erwin Pries? But what would that do? If something shady was going on, the military wouldn't be able to help since they were the ones covering it up!

_Should I…?_

He glanced over his shoulder out the window to see Christie and Lucy playing in the yard again. Neither showed any sign of wanting to come inside. The agents outside were more interested in talking to some of the other locals. Jess wasn't due home for a few hours. That was plenty of time to access the information on her laptop before she got back or anyone else walked in on him if he was quick and careful about it.

Grabbing the laptop, he went into his and Jess's room and opened it. He knew her passwords backwards and forwards, given the amount of times she'd asked him to help her remember them in the past.

Finally, he was in. Her desktop background was a picture of the three of them in front of their new house from the day they'd moved in several months ago. Back when they'd been happy and Jess hadn't been hiding things from him. A lump formed in his throat but he clicked on some of the files on her desktop. Most were on her assignments for the military (like guarding the lab up in the crater). Much of those documents were redacted, probably just in case someone like him went snooping.

_Okay…_

One mentioned "keep [REDACTED] contained in the lab. Do not allow civilians near [REDACTED]."

There _was _something out there. He moved onto her emails, which included one from the military doctor that Jess was required to see. Reading it made his heart sink and steeled his reserve to do something.

_Corporal Sigworth,_

_ I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. With everything that's been happening I've been finding it difficult to take care of tasks like sending out emails. And I'm sorry. You are infected. At present, there is nothing anyone can do to reverse the effects or safeguard against it. Please just take care of yourself and make sure your husband and daughter are safe._

_ I have also been asked to inform you that you must find a way to dissuade Erwin Pries, as he is a threat to the security of both the lab and the base. As yet, we have been unable to sufficiently subdue him in a way that would help with our problem and are leaving it to you._

_ Sincerely, Dr. Healy._

Dylan gulped, his mouth suddenly dry.

If Erwin Pries was close, then this information definitely needed to get to him.

* * *

"Mom?"

"Yes, Luce?"

"There's a man watching us from across the street again."

One glance out the window and Carlotta spotted a guy wearing a leather jacket who gave her a little wave before walking on. She sighed.

"It's okay, Luce. If they're like that guy, they're okay as long as they don't talk to us. It's when they talk to us that we're gonna have problems."

"Why?"

"Grown-up stuff." She ruffled Lucy's hair. "Go wash up for dinner."

"Okay…"

Carlotta listened carefully to the sound of the faucet in the bathroom before she cracked the window open and stuck her hand out of it. A fat envelope was placed into her palm, which she tucked into the drawer next to the sink. There was another envelope in there—in fact, there was one for every week they'd lived there. The only difference was that these other envelopes were empty.

Lucy had no idea these payments were being made. Despite Carlotta's repeated and mostly-accurate claims that their family wanted nothing to do with either of them, Luca D'Angelo was not the type of man to let his child or grandchild fend for themselves. He regularly sent Carlotta cash supplements for her income, mostly small bills so as not to raise suspicion with either Bianca or anyone else. But mostly Bianca. If she found out that her husband was supporting her 'whore of a daughter who brought shame to their family', then… well, Carlotta wasn't exactly sure what would happen. It wouldn't be good, though.

She set out the plates as her daughter emerged from the bathroom and sat down to eat. Conversation was standard—school, funny stories from their days, things any mother and daughter would talk about.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, kiddo?"

"How come…" She hesitated.

"How come what?"

"How come you and my dad aren't together?"

Carlotta blinked in surprise.

"W-why are you askin'?"

"Well… the other day when I was sleeping over at Christie's, her parents got in a fight and her mom left the house. Justin asked if I'd seen worse between you and my dad."

"Oh, Lucy…" Carlotta sighed and set down her fork. "I don't think you're ready to hear that story. It's… not good. For either of us."

"I know Dad hurt you."

"That he did."

"But Grandma hurt you, too. And Grandpa and Aunt Mia and—"

"Lucy." The little girl shut her mouth. "I want you to listen. Everything that happened—between me and your grandma, between me and your dad, between us and the rest of the family—none of it is anything that we need to focus on. What matters is us starting over. This is hopefully going to be our home. You'll go to school, make friends, and we'll be happy."

"But I want to know."

"And I'll tell you one day, when you're older. I promise."

Lucy nodded, seemingly satisfied by that answer before she finished her dinner and put the dishes away. Carlotta then made sure her daughter went to bed before she went to watch some TV. It was some news report, but it caught her attention when it showed the front of a rather nice apartment building that she knew for a fact was in San Myshuno. The reporter had a name that Carlotta knew very well—Sophia Spicer, a girl who had once upon a time been one of Carlotta's closest friends. Time (and wealth from journalism) had evidently been kind to her, given her stylishly-cropped brown hair, bright red glasses and matching lipstick, and fashionable clothing.

_"I'm standing here at the Spire Apartments, where fifty-one-year-old Johnathan Pennington was found dead this morning by his twenty-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. He had been strangled to death, but no evidence was found in the apartment."_

_ "Sophia, how exactly is it possible for Mr. Pennington to have been murdered without any evidence?"_

_ "Security cameras didn't pick up anybody of interest entering or exiting the building. However, there were a number of papers alluding to a connection with a criminal group. Police have not yet divulged what group he is suspected to have run afoul of, but Elizabeth has claimed that her father has always had a habit of, quote, pissing people off and he just pissed off the wrong ones this time, end quote."_

Carlotta couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

_"Do police have any ideas on where to begin looking?"_

_ "Afraid not, Greg. It's a sad situation for Mr. Pennington's daughter and his company, though there are also implications that he was embezzling…"_

Carlotta switched off the TV and headed off to her room, digging into her dresser to pull out a framed picture. It was of a tall muscular man in his twenties standing next to a teenage version of her with his elbow on her shoulder as an armrest, her standing with her arms crossed looking mockingly annoyed but not serious as he grinned at the camera. The two of them were a pair of picture-perfect siblings. Nobody would ever guess what would happen with them.

The man—her oldest brother, Rocco—was a hitman for the San Myshuno mob.

She would become a single mother at sixteen.

Carlotta knew that Mr. Pennington had been killed by Rocco. Nobody else could pull it off that cleanly without evidence. It was part of being raised in a crime family. Hell, Carlotta knew how to break into a house and not leave any evidence herself.

_Why can't I do the same with a government lab?_

She had her answer. She was going to help Erwin, if only to make sure her and Lucy's fresh start would go well.


	4. Chapter 4

All his life, Dylan had been a rule-follower.

Since he was a kid he'd gone by the book—gone to school every day, never smoked, never drank, obeyed his parents, done his chores. He had been a golden child as a kid in Oasis Springs. Even when he got older, he met Jess and dated her for a couple years before they got married. Christie had come along not long after. When Jess wanted to make her way up in the military he'd let her, becoming a stay-at-home dad to Christie. His entire life he'd tried to please people by doing what they wanted as long as it wasn't illegal or stupid.

Now that they were in Strangerville the game had changed. Jess was infected with something and avoiding him. The locals were freaking him out. Government agents stopped him on the street to ask him questions, to ask Christie questions. And that wasn't even mentioning the bizarre pods he'd been noticing more and more. If they'd been back in Oasis Springs, he'd be going along happily. But Strangerville wasn't Oasis Springs. It was new and starting to scare him and he had to change to fit his new situation.

Hence why he was currently sitting in Carlotta D'Angelo's living room.

His new neighbor (along with local 'crackpot' Erwin Pries) was looking into the lab to figure out what exactly was going on. They'd invited him to Carlotta's to ask him to join their efforts as neither of them was as tech-savvy as he was. Erwin was an expert on the area and Carlotta knew plants along with being more physically-inclined than her partner-in-crime. If this had been prior to Jess's infection and odd behavior, he would've declined. As it stood now his answer was 'yes'. Definitely. Absolutely.

"Only thing now is to find someone to keep an eye on Lucy," Carlotta sighed. "I'd ask you but you'll be busy."

"Jess is off this weekend—" Carlotta vehemently shook her head.

"No. Not with all the crap that's going on and not with the way she's acting. The only person I trust less to watch my daughter is my mother."

_Okay, that's a loaded statement._

"Why don't you trust—" Erwin started before Dylan caught his eye and shook his head. "Never mind. Look, I know this girl who lives up in Shady Acres. Not infected and super nice."

"How well do you know her is my question."

"I've known Alice since we were in college. Trust me, she's okay."

"Get her down here and I'll consider it. In the meantime, Dylan, figure out how to get into the database at the lab."

"When are we doing this?" Dylan inquired.

"Whenever. I work from home and I'm pretty sure Erwin's unemployed."

"I am."

"And I don't have a job, either."

"Good. Then it's settled. Let's say… Thursday night?"

It was agreed and they split up.

* * *

Thursday night arrived and so did Alice Martin, who seemed immediately taken with Lucy and happy to babysit. Erwin, Carlotta, and Dylan headed out, dressed in clothes that were both built for camouflage and inconspicuous. They also didn't look too out of place. It was because unfortunately the database couldn't be accessed from their neighborhood and they had to head up to the crater to get a signal from it. Carlotta was driving her truck and the plates had been replaced by Erwin (where he got spare plates she had no idea and didn't ask) with the old ones tucked into the drawer with the envelopes from her supplements.

As she drove up, Erwin anxiously tapped his fingers on the passenger-side door. Dylan was in the backseat with his laptop, ready to announce when they were in. The closer they got the more nervous Erwin became. Carlotta became frustrated by the sound and sighed.

"Could you cut it out, please?"

"I got chased off last time I went up here! I'm sorry!"

"Well, you're not helping anything."

The crater came into view and Carlotta noticed that the floodlights that normally illuminated the area were off. Dylan shook his head to signal that no, he wasn't in yet. It was a quiet drive into the crater itself and as the lab came into view, she got a sick feeling in her gut. The whole place was eerily silent, military trucks sitting abandoned with not one guard around the lab itself. All there was to separate them from the government building was a high chain-link fence with a heavy padlock on the gate.

"I think we should go in," Erwin suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing—better signal," Dylan agreed. He put his laptop into his backpack and Carlotta parked the truck in some thick bushes that left it well-hidden from view. They approached the fence at the gate, Erwin illuminating it with a headlamp he'd brought along.

"Okay, so I think I can get this open," he told Dylan and Carlotta, the latter rolling her eyes. "I brought a lockpicking kit just in case. It'll take a minute, but it'll be worth it."

While the geniuses focused on the gate, Carlotta thought back to her days in San Myshuno before Lucy's father had come into the picture. She could remember that as long as a fence didn't have barbed wire on top and had enough footholds, you could climb it. After all she'd climbed into a few fenced-in car lots to grab vehicles on behalf of her father and older brother Nicky.

She gripped the links and began to climb. It was even sturdier than the ones back in the city and easily held her weight. Climbing wasn't a challenge thanks to the fact that she'd kept up with fitness at her job. By the time she got to the other side, Erwin and Dylan were still fiddling with the lock and hadn't even noticed that she was gone.

"Hey, morons!" she called in a loud whisper, getting their attention.

"Carlotta, how…" Erwin asked, dumbfounded.

"I climbed the fence. It's sturdy enough to hold your weight. Hurry up."

They glanced at each other and she waited while they clambered over. Neither was nearly as in shape as she was but they made it. She made a mental note to bring bolt-cutters next time while they headed inside. Getting in there was easy since the lock was electronic and Dylan was able to fiddle with it to let them in.

There was no turning back.

* * *

Erwin wasn't sure what he'd been expecting the lab to be like but this wasn't it.

The whole place was deserted. Most of the high-tech equipment he'd assumed would be there just wasn't. Boxes and piles of papers were all over the place, as if the scientists had just left in a hurry. This explained everything except _why_ they had left. Carlotta was already searching through papers by the flashlight on her phone and Dylan had set up to get into the system, so Erwin decided to look around.

Most of the place was about the same. He could hear Dylan tell Carlotta that he was in and Carlotta say she'd found a thumb-drive in the papers she'd been shuffling through but he was distracted by a slight smell. Around a corner there was a door, and the door was the source of the smell. Through it he could hear the slight hum of machinery and there were a few pink spots on the floor in front. Part of him wanted to touch it but alarms in his brain screamed not to.

When he got back to Dylan and Carlotta, they were scanning the database.

"There's something down there," Dylan told Erwin upon seeing him. "Apparently the lab up here is just a cover. Most of the scientists kept their information on their personal laptops so in order to get access to that I'd have to take one of those. Carlotta's thumb-drive didn't help much, either."

Erwin thought for a moment, then an idea popped into his head.

"Carlotta, did you see anything else in those piles?"

"A few things, why?" she asked.

"Find as much as you can. I have an idea."

They managed to gather sixteen pieces of evidence and Erwin took it home, scanning as much as he could onto his computer before he uploaded it to one of his favorite forums.

_All of this is directly from the Lab in Strangerville. Could anybody get me a keycard for it?_

Within minutes, not even five since he'd uploaded, a girl thanked him for the evidence and promised to send the keycard. He gave her Carlotta's address for delivery and smirked.

This was it.


End file.
